A lint collector is commonly used in conjunction with a dryer to remove lint from the dryer exhaust gas. A lint collector typically includes an outer shell, or body which provides a passageway for the exhaust gas. The outer shell will often be made of several portions welded together resulting in sharp weld seams on the inside of the shell. These seams may create rough edges resulting in lint hang-up within the shell during a lint removal process.
A lint collector will also typically include a lint collecting component which actually collects the lint from the exhaust gas as it passes through the outer shell. The lint collecting component is usually a flat, or substantially planar filter and is usually made of a fabric, such as a nylon mesh, tightened about a frame. Because of its planar shape, the gas flows through the component in a two-dimensional fashion i.e. all flow paths are substantially parallel. Thus, the lint collecting needs of larger dryers must be accommodated with a large and bulky lint collector which uses up valuable space. Further, the nylon mesh components are easily punctured by foreign objects, such as nuts, bolts, and/or coins which may find their way into a lint collector.
Most lint collectors have some sort of a lint removal process which periodically removes accumulated lint from the lint collecting component. A solid sheet or "blanket" of lint will normally develop on the lint collecting component and the lint removal process must remove this entire blanket. In larger lint collectors especially, this may put significant demands on the lint removal process.
The lint removal process may include a blow-off device which blows air through the lint collecting component in a direction which forces the lint off the component. When a blow-off device is used, a large volume of air is usually necessary. Often in the building or room in which a dryer is located, a supply line of compressed air is available. However, if a lint removal device were directly connected to such air supply line for blowing lint off the lint collecting component, then air pressure in such air supply line may be undesirably depleted.
The lint removal process must also be activated at the appropriate times. While an automatic actuation of the lint removal process when a dryer cycle is complete is convenient, it is not without drawbacks. A dryer equipped with a large exhaust blower may experience a condition called "coasting". "Coasting" results from an exhaust blower continuing to turn even after the dryer is shut off. Consequently, the exhaust blower continues to create a flow in the opposite direction of the flow produced by the lint removal system. Thus, while the dryer is coasting, these two flows are fighting against each other, and the lint removal process is inefficient and sometimes substantially unsuccessful.
For these and other reasons, a need remains for an improved lint collector.